Adversity in Childhood Leads to Irritable Bowel Syndrome Later in Life

One factor that can increase one’s likelihood of suffering from digestive issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is adversity during childhood.

A new study in the journal “Nature Communications” created stress in newborn mice by separating from their mothers after birth. As these mice grew older, they produced higher levels of serotonin in the digestive tract, which eventually led to symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

Conclusions

Early childhood stress influences serotonin production and can increase susceptibility to digestive problems across the lifespan.

References

Wong, H. L. X., Qin, H. Y., Tsang, S. W., Zuo, X., Che, S., Chow, C. F. W., … & Lin, C. Y. (2019). Early life stress disrupts intestinal homeostasis via NGF-TrkA signaling. Nature communications, 10(1), 1745.